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ds1450
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I have heard this story over the years... person straps a ground wire to a Railroad tie, into a swamp, etc to increase AM coverage. Probably an urban myth, but would this work with an AM station?
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In a word, yes.
All AM stations have a grounding system of some kind; usually it's a series of conductive wires tied to the radiating element (tower) at the center and spread out along specific azimuths in straight lines for an appropriate distance. Usually they're buried at least a few feet below the ground to maximize ground conductivity...which is the main way an AM signal propagates (i.e. "gets out there"). When you listen to an AM signal, you're mostly listening to the signal that's travelled through the ground to get to you. That's why signals in highly-conductive soil (the Midwest/farm belt) or seawater can be HUGE despite relatively low wattages. KCLU(AM) on a congested frequency (1340kHz) and only 660 watts covers nearly 80 miles of coastline from Gaviota, CA (near Vanderberg AFB) almost to Malibu, CA. That signal disappears only a mile (or less) from the coastline as the land is nowhere near as conductive as the seawater is. Fortunately for KCLU, 90% of the population in that region happens to live within that mile of the coast.
The other part is skywave propagation, which tends to be minimized in the day due to how the Sun's radiation interacts with the earth's atmosphere. But skywave is why you can hear some stations, like WBZ 1030, for hundreds...even thousands...of miles away when it's nighttime.
As for AM radio RECEPTION, yes, if your radio has a ground connection and run a wire from it to a really good earth ground, it will usually improve your reception. Depending on the station you're trying to listen to, it can make a really big difference. A common earth ground is to take a metal rod, dig a small hole (about 2 to 3ft deep) and fill it with rock salt (the stuff you put on your driveway to melt snow) up to the last few inches. Water it nicely to get that salt into the dirt and then replace the last few inches with sod for aesthetics. Water some more. Tie, solder or weld a reasonably heavy-gauge wire to the rod and run that wire to the ground terminal of your radio inside.
If you want to REALLY get fancy, and you've got room in your yard, dig 6 to 12 evenly-spaced horizontal trenches out from the center rod. Make them 6 to 12 inches deep (too shallow and frost heaves will push 'em back up within a few years) and at least 6 to 10ft long. Line with more rock salt, and put heavy-gauge bare wire in there, or 1-in wide copper strap. Solder/weld the wire to the rod in the center (should be below ground).
If you don't care about fancy, simply grounding to the sewer pipe in your basement ought to work fairly well, too. Just don't attach the wire to shiny silver metal; that's chrome and chrome is not conductive.
All AM stations have a grounding system of some kind; usually it's a series of conductive wires tied to the radiating element (tower) at the center and spread out along specific azimuths in straight lines for an appropriate distance. Usually they're buried at least a few feet below the ground to maximize ground conductivity...which is the main way an AM signal propagates (i.e. "gets out there"). When you listen to an AM signal, you're mostly listening to the signal that's travelled through the ground to get to you. That's why signals in highly-conductive soil (the Midwest/farm belt) or seawater can be HUGE despite relatively low wattages. KCLU(AM) on a congested frequency (1340kHz) and only 660 watts covers nearly 80 miles of coastline from Gaviota, CA (near Vanderberg AFB) almost to Malibu, CA. That signal disappears only a mile (or less) from the coastline as the land is nowhere near as conductive as the seawater is. Fortunately for KCLU, 90% of the population in that region happens to live within that mile of the coast.
The other part is skywave propagation, which tends to be minimized in the day due to how the Sun's radiation interacts with the earth's atmosphere. But skywave is why you can hear some stations, like WBZ 1030, for hundreds...even thousands...of miles away when it's nighttime.
As for AM radio RECEPTION, yes, if your radio has a ground connection and run a wire from it to a really good earth ground, it will usually improve your reception. Depending on the station you're trying to listen to, it can make a really big difference. A common earth ground is to take a metal rod, dig a small hole (about 2 to 3ft deep) and fill it with rock salt (the stuff you put on your driveway to melt snow) up to the last few inches. Water it nicely to get that salt into the dirt and then replace the last few inches with sod for aesthetics. Water some more. Tie, solder or weld a reasonably heavy-gauge wire to the rod and run that wire to the ground terminal of your radio inside.
If you want to REALLY get fancy, and you've got room in your yard, dig 6 to 12 evenly-spaced horizontal trenches out from the center rod. Make them 6 to 12 inches deep (too shallow and frost heaves will push 'em back up within a few years) and at least 6 to 10ft long. Line with more rock salt, and put heavy-gauge bare wire in there, or 1-in wide copper strap. Solder/weld the wire to the rod in the center (should be below ground).
If you don't care about fancy, simply grounding to the sewer pipe in your basement ought to work fairly well, too. Just don't attach the wire to shiny silver metal; that's chrome and chrome is not conductive.
Not really directly responsive to ds1450's question, but partially related...
There used to be an at-grade railroad crossing of the Beltline Highway (US-12/14/18/151) on the south side of Madison, Wis., near American TV.
If you were tuned to a Chicago AM station as you drove across that railroad, the signal would briefly GREATLY increase in strength. Probably 10-15-20dB. I know it happened for the big Chicago non-DAs - WMAQ, WGN, WBBM, WLS. Don't remember trying it on the other stations (WIND, WMVP) that had more-or-less usable signals up there.
There used to be an at-grade railroad crossing of the Beltline Highway (US-12/14/18/151) on the south side of Madison, Wis., near American TV.
If you were tuned to a Chicago AM station as you drove across that railroad, the signal would briefly GREATLY increase in strength. Probably 10-15-20dB. I know it happened for the big Chicago non-DAs - WMAQ, WGN, WBBM, WLS. Don't remember trying it on the other stations (WIND, WMVP) that had more-or-less usable signals up there.
There's a legend that WTUR...the old carrier-current AM station at Tufts (years before WMFO) once coupled a 20 watt CC-AM transmitter to the commuter rail tracks that run right behind the building where their studios are. Allegedly the signal was heard as far away as Virginia, which sounds totally bogus to me; even on a clear frequency at night, 20 watts isn't going to travel all THAT far. However, supposedly it was very much heard in Quincy, MA where the FCC's Boston field office is (was?) and before too long the station got a less-than-friendly visit. Now that I could totally see...20 watts on the right frequency, coupled to a solid earth ground like railroad tracks, would definitely get out a ways. It'd be directional along the axis of the tracks, but it'd travel nicely.
w9wi said:
This was true....I have driven throught that spot many time. I think those tracks have been pulled out now.
There are other places where I've seen the same condition in proximity to RR tracks.
A friend has a house in Chicago ajacent to the CTA overhead elevated steel structure railroad tracks.
It's so close if a train fell off it would land on the house.
I suggested to him that a pt 15 AM station might do "really well" there, if grouded "properly".
I can chime in with a couple of sea water stories. I was CE of 1370 in Wickford RI in 1983. 500 watts into a 110' tower got out decently well. It was listenable on Cape Cod, and we had listeners in Westerly RI for the state Little League tournament. The tower was in the middle of Wickford Cove; hence the coverage. 1220 in Providence is similar with its tower on a tiny island in the Seekonk River. I was on vacation in Duck NC a few years ago , and the Atlantic City stations on 1020,1400, and 1490 were local-like during the day.
A lot of Newport gets great AM coverage from all the Providence stations thanks to the saltwater path of Narragansett Bay. The island of Bermuda gets excellent coverage from several US-based AM stations, too.
Similarly, KFRM is licensed to Salina, KS with only 5000 watts, but between the low dial position (550kHz) and super-conductive soil in the midwest, it has a protected service area nearly 200 miles
in diameter during the day. At night, with a measly 110 watts, it covers a nearly-50-mile diameter area. Of course, this is Kansas, where there can often be stretches of 50 miles without a single household living there. ;D
Similarly, KFRM is licensed to Salina, KS with only 5000 watts, but between the low dial position (550kHz) and super-conductive soil in the midwest, it has a protected service area nearly 200 miles
in diameter during the day. At night, with a measly 110 watts, it covers a nearly-50-mile diameter area. Of course, this is Kansas, where there can often be stretches of 50 miles without a single household living there. ;DWhere I am (in Norwood, Massachusetts; some 14 miles southwest of Boston), I can get WFAN-660 and WCBS-8890 during the day on most of my AM radios, with WFAN the slightly stronger signal.
They are the only New York AM's I normally get during daytime hours.
The more salt water there is between the transmitter and receiver, the better an AM signal travels, especially during the day.
WFAN and WCBS share a transmitter site on High Island on the western extremity of Long Island Sound, so much of their signal paths, including the first few miles, are are over salt water.
Most other New York AM's transmit from marshes in New Jersey, and their signals have to travel over land for the first few miles.
However, along the south coast of New England (Southern Connecticut, Southern Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket), AM signals from New York stations, whether transmitting from High Island or the Jersey marshes, are mostly over salt water, so in those areas, you can get just about all of the Big Apple's 50-kilowatt stations during the day with pretty much "local" signal strength.
As a youngster, I remember going to a beach in Hyannis on Cape Cod one Summer day and overheard a transistor radio tuned into WABC-770 (this was during their top-40 heyday) and it sounded for all intents and purposes as a local signal.
They are the only New York AM's I normally get during daytime hours.
The more salt water there is between the transmitter and receiver, the better an AM signal travels, especially during the day.
WFAN and WCBS share a transmitter site on High Island on the western extremity of Long Island Sound, so much of their signal paths, including the first few miles, are are over salt water.
Most other New York AM's transmit from marshes in New Jersey, and their signals have to travel over land for the first few miles.
However, along the south coast of New England (Southern Connecticut, Southern Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket), AM signals from New York stations, whether transmitting from High Island or the Jersey marshes, are mostly over salt water, so in those areas, you can get just about all of the Big Apple's 50-kilowatt stations during the day with pretty much "local" signal strength.
As a youngster, I remember going to a beach in Hyannis on Cape Cod one Summer day and overheard a transistor radio tuned into WABC-770 (this was during their top-40 heyday) and it sounded for all intents and purposes as a local signal.
When 700 from Saint John NB was on air (till 98?) you could get it like a local at places like Stage Fort Park in Gloucester.
Salt water path: WZAN 970 and WGAN 560--and yes Bittner's WJTO 730, all from the Portland area, can come in on North Shore
Boston and maybe Cape stations along the coast of Maine
Maine (AM) stations on the Cape...
Salt water path: WZAN 970 and WGAN 560--and yes Bittner's WJTO 730, all from the Portland area, can come in on North Shore
Boston and maybe Cape stations along the coast of Maine
Maine (AM) stations on the Cape...
CHTN-720 on Prince Edward Island came in quite good in Newburyport, too.
Just south of Portland, along the coast from York Beach to Scarborough.... 1240 on Cape Cod gives a respectable signal. Go north of Portland, and WEZR-1240-Lewiston starts to take over.
WJTO-730-Bath comes in like a local in a car radio from Rt 3 Marshfield, all the way to almost Orleans on Cape Cod, along Rt 6. WJTO has many listeners/donors along the north shore of the "Upper Cape" (which is really the lower east-west portion of the Cape).
Just south of Portland, along the coast from York Beach to Scarborough.... 1240 on Cape Cod gives a respectable signal. Go north of Portland, and WEZR-1240-Lewiston starts to take over.
WJTO-730-Bath comes in like a local in a car radio from Rt 3 Marshfield, all the way to almost Orleans on Cape Cod, along Rt 6. WJTO has many listeners/donors along the north shore of the "Upper Cape" (which is really the lower east-west portion of the Cape).
I have heard our WLYN quite nicely, during the day, on the Cape.
(I did not check the night signal at the time)
As it is grounded into brackish (half fresh, half salt) water and
the Cape is an unobstructed straight shot across ocean ...
I got a confirmation once that someone heard us in Norway.
(I did not check the night signal at the time)
As it is grounded into brackish (half fresh, half salt) water and
the Cape is an unobstructed straight shot across ocean ...
I got a confirmation once that someone heard us in Norway.
I know a little about railroad tracks. I was into HO scale model railroading a few years ago and know several real railroad employees. One good friend works as a signal maintainer for CSX, based out of Chattanooga, TN. The rails are used by the railroads for electrical reasons, too. They carry electrical information for signals at trackside and crossing gates. If you "short" the two rails near a grade crossing the gates come down. The axles/wheels on an engine do this as they approach a grade crossing. That means there is a break, electrically, in the tracks near grade crossings. My friend explained that signal information is "broadcast" at different frequencies through the rails and there are shunt like devices to pass the electrical signals through gaps in the rail.
I'm thinking using the rails for ground is not a good thing.
I'm thinking using the rails for ground is not a good thing.
D
ds1450
Guest
WOW... pretty cool info. The 64 dollar question is.. is it legal? I want to try this but I want to stay somewhat within the rules despite the bit of Pirate in my veins.
When I was on vacation in Newfoundland I can tell you that WEEI (850) and WWZN (1510) can be heard clearly by day in St John's. WRKO (680) and WXKS (1200 ) are there but very muddy.
As the seagull flies it is almost 1,000 miles - but most of it is over the puddle.
As the seagull flies it is almost 1,000 miles - but most of it is over the puddle.
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